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SINGAPORE \u2013 Veteran barber Yuzzrie Adahar thought he had to hang up his shaver in 2025 when the shop he was employed at in Hougang Central closed.<\/p>\n
The business owner gave up the unit following a steep increase in monthly rent from about $7,500 to $10,000 and later found a smaller space nearby, but it could not accommodate all eight barbers, said Yuzzrie, 61. The original unit at Block 806 is now occupied by a licensed moneylender.<\/p>\n
Yuzzrie turned to Angel Song, who owns the manicure shop next to his former workplace.<\/p>\n
The Beijing-born Singapore citizen also runs an eight-seater hair salon in neighbouring Block 805, and agreed to take him in.<\/p>\n
Yuzzrie now pays $50 a day to rent a chair, resting on Tuesdays. He works from 8am to 5pm and serves about 12 customers daily.<\/p>\n
He operates from a fixed chair, an arrangement he proposed to Song that is akin to having his own space within her salon.<\/p>\n
The words \u201cBotak Your Barber\u201d are pasted on the mirror, alongside his business hours and phone number. He displays his own PayNow QR code, and outside Song\u2019s H & A hair salon, a standing banner also advertises \u201cH & A Malay Barber\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked about his special arrangement, Yuzzrie said one must have \u201cguts and confidence\u201d to stay afloat. His take-home pay is now roughly what he earned before.<\/p>\n
He and Song communicate in simple English, but language has not been a barrier to their working relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get along well. She trusts me by giving me the keys to the salon since I start work hours earlier,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a two-way thing, as more customers walk in when they see the salon bustling from early morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Song, who has run her salon for more than 20 years, helping him was a natural decision after years as neighbours.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis skill is so good, and he has many regular customers. It would be such a waste if he has to stop working,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
IT professional Andy Lim, 54, has been Yuzzrie\u2019s customer for more than two decades.<\/p>\n
He continues to make the trip monthly for his $12 haircut, even after moving from Sengkang to Tampines. He has to call to secure an appointment with his favourite barber.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing to this salon is no different from the former barber shop as it is still in the same area,\u201d said Lim. \u201cI follow him because he knows my style.\u201d<\/p>\n
Song also offered two of Yuzzrie\u2019s former colleagues a different arrangement in June 2025. Instead of paying a daily chair rental, they give her 40% of their weekly earnings.<\/p>\n
One of them is Maksum Hashim, 70, who starts work later in the day and stops at 8.30pm. He serves about six customers a day.<\/p>\n
He opted against renting a chair as he has fewer regulars. \u201cIt\u2019s my fault. I did not tell my customers where I have moved to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He makes about $200 less monthly now but is happy with the arrangement as Song allows him to come in late after taking his medication in the mornings.<\/p>\n
Renting out salon chairs is not new in the industry, according to salon owners and social media advertisements.<\/p>\n
Fearless Image & Grooming in Race Course Road rents out a salon chair for $300 a week, excluding hair products.<\/p>\n
Founder Muhammad Jaya Nudin, 37, introduced the chair rental scheme about six months ago in his one-year-old salon.<\/p>\n
Several stylists have inquired, but there are no takers yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a win-win for both stylists and salon owners,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, it eases my overheads. For stylists, they don\u2019t have to rent a whole physical space.\u201d<\/p>\n
The arrangement may not work for all stylists, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cStylists need their own regular clientele, since they are essentially running their own business,\u201d he said. \u201cIf not, they would rather depend on the salon\u2019s customers and pay commission on them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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SINGAPORE \u2013 Veteran barber Yuzzrie Adahar thought he had to hang up his shaver in 2025 when the shop he was employed at in Hougang…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/96841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}